This Demon has Teeth
by The Golden Gael
Summary: Raven comes to be the protector of a child vampire, a girl named Cerise who is running from her father, who abused and tortured her. But when her father shows up, it's not Cerise he's after, and it may cost Raven everything
1. Default Chapter

1.

Jump City had a problem with stray cats. Homeless people had all but disappeared, but stray cats, well, they were taking over. One of these cats, a black one, so black that all you would ever see of it that night would have been the two glowing specs of its eyes as it slipped gracefully down the street, was looking for food. Food was something that always caused problems, especially in a city as clean as Jump City. There was never any viable litter on the streets, and since garbage collection was upped to two days a week (the previous day being one of the lucky two), most of the food options for a feline without a home went down to essentially nil.

For this cat, it wouldn't really matter, though, because this cat was about to die.

The attack came from out of a darkened alley, so fast that not even the heightened senses and speed of a cat could avoid it. Before this poor cat could even understand what was going on, it was four and a half feet in the air, with a set of sharp teeth buried in its neck. It struggled for a few moments, lashing out at its attacker, but quickly lost the strength to do even that. In few moments more, it was dead, drained of its blood, and was discarded like an empty juice box in a darkened corner of the alley. Its attacker ran off into the night, satiated for another evening.

Satiated, and utterly terrified of what it was.

Just another average night in Jump City, I guess.

2.

"Just like every night the past week. One dead cat, dried out like a strip of jerky in a fur coat." The Titans were gathered around the dead little thing, all of them feeling just a little sympathetic, but Raven still felt the need to make the sarcastic comment every now and then.

"Yeah, and just like every other time, no trace of whatever did it." Beast Boy said.

"There is nothing in the area, I have checked the entire block." Starfire said, descending from the sky. She had been combing the streets for at least an hour, and nothing, absolutely nothing. It was like the night itself came out and attacked the poor little cat. She landed next to Robin, and so the group was whole.

"Look, no offense to anyone here, but why are we doing this? I mean...Dead animal Patrol? Isn't there a car being stolen somewhere?" Cyborg was addressing Robin, but was really open to an answer from anyone.

"As much as I like black cats, I think I'd have to agree. This can't be very high on the priority list," Raven said, looking rather unsympathetically at the withered cats corpse.

"Do you not want to find the slayer of the cats? Do you not feel for them...the poor...little things?" Starfire looked on the verge of tears, Robin thought a bit extreme to be crying over this, but felt for her, nonetheless.

"Starfire's right, we need to find whoever did this. If they can do it to a cat, how long until they start doing it to people?" No one had an answer, Robin wasn't expecting one, anyway.

"Well, if you plan on catching the guy, then we need a plan. All we've done for the past six days is mop up what he leaves us. We gotta get there _before_ he does...whatever it is he does."

"Yeah, and we'd better find the guy fast, with all these foreign digi...dimdi...

"Dignitaries." Robin corrected.

"Right, those guys."

The dignitaries to which Beast Boy referred to were in town on a peace summit. They didn't really relay any of the details to the Titans, which suited them fine, politics was something that none of the Titans were familiar with, or even cared that much about. Whoever they were, they were in town discussing a possible peace treaty for some war between two European countries. There was a short list of reasons why they picked Jump City to hold said conference, and the Titans were proud to say they were pretty high up on that list. They'd heard, though, that one of the higher ups in charge of the summit had personally picked Jump City out of a long list of candidates. Whatever, politics...boring. Still, they wanted to make an impression, so when dead, dry cats started turning up, it didn't take long for them to start investigating, however much they didn't want to.

"Are we bringing this one back to the tower?" Cyborg asked, motioning towards the cat but not touching it. Something about the whole set up he found...creepy.

"Yes, I'd like to run a few tests," Robin replied.

"You expect to find anything new?" Raven asked.

"No, not really..." Robin looked around him for a moment, "...I think we need a little more strategy here."

"Well, what do you recommend, fearless leader?" Cyborg asked. Robin thought for a moment. There was only one thing he could think of that would, perhaps, provide some results, and he was fairly certain no one was going to like it.

"We need to stake the whole city out." He got about what he expected, a sea of exasperated faces. "Look," he said, trying to get some of them on his side, "we need to put a stop to this stuff, right now, before it spills over into the streets. I don't want to see any human beings taken down by whatever's doing this. Guys, I'm sorry to say, but it's the only way." The looks continued for a moment, but slowly melted away. What replaced them was a kind of depressed resignation. Robin was right, they had to catch the guy in the act, he certainly wasn't leaving enough of himself behind to track. After Robin saw that everyone agreed with him, he continued.

"Raven, you take this area of the city." Raven nodded absently, still looking at the dead cat. Robin divided the city up amongst the Titans in a similar way. They all knew that even this was a long shot. It was, after all, a big city, and there was only five of them. Still, the plan held confidence, and at least they were doing something instead of sitting around, watching Robin bury his face in a microscope.

They all parted and went to their assigned area of the city. For Raven, this meant going nowhere, really. The only place she went was a nearby rooftop, where she was sure to have a long, long night.

3.

It was after night fall, what time specifically Raven wasn't sure. Her communicator had a digital clock on it, but it had been at least two hours since she'd checked it. Who needed to know the time, anyway? She was there until the sun came up or she found someone who really enjoyed the taste of cats.

The pattern of attacks – that is, the places where they'd found the cats – was concentrated mostly to Raven's south, the one that had occurred that day in the alley that now lay to her right was the northernmost incident. This meant that she, if anyone, was going to see something tonight, but she might not see it where she was. She started to float slowly towards the north, scanning the ground as she went.

One thing was for sure, it was a damned slow night.

The only thing she'd seen since the sun went down was a car going at quite a clip, with one of its headlights broken. She resisted the urge to chase it down and bring it to a halt. Chasing down cat killers was low enough on the crime totem pole, she didn't need to be tailing reckless drivers, too. That, she thought, was definitely beneath her. Whatever happened to Dr. Light? He was about due to rob a bank, wasn't he?

Man, did she sound insensitive or what? She didn't want to seem like she was being an ass about the whole cat thing, certainly it was important to find who was doing this. It was easy to forget that the animals of Jump City were just as important. It's just, homeless cats...where was animal control?

Suddenly, Raven saw a form on the ground. It was a dark spot in the even darker street, but seeing things in low light had never been an issue for her. She followed the form fairly easily, and stayed a good distance away from it until she could figure out what it was. It moved fast, staying always in shadow. If it was human, it was a very odd human indeed. She kept flying, but tried to stay out of its direct line of sight. It finally came to stop in an alley, much like the one they'd found the last cat in, and Raven dissolved into the wall to sneak in for a closer look.

She came to rest behind the thing, which was still obscured by the lack of light, a black stain in the night. Raven waited. She needed to be sure that this...whatever it was was what was responsible for the deaths of those cats, and for that, well, she needed a cat. She reached out with her mind, searching the area, she knew there were lots of strays these days (in fact, she remembered once mentioning in passing that they'd make an excellent source of food for those who were so inclined. She'd been recently trying to reassure herself that that was a joke). She found one a few blocks over, and though it didn't seem to like it very much, she levitated it to just to the right of the mouth of the alley. Hopefully it would take a nice leisurely stroll in front of Raven's new friend, and Raven could solve this little mystery, and get home to a book and a warm cup of tea before she was driven totally batty.

The cat obediently started to walk in front of the alley, and the shape in the night darted out – almost too fast for Raven to see, and pressed the cat to its mouth. Ok...that was weird. Raven stepped out of the wall.

"Taste good?" She saw a small light attached to one of the buildings beside her, and used her power to turn it on. "I think you can put the cat down now, supper's over."

What the light illuminated was a small girl, no more than ten, with midnight black hair and wearing a tattered black dress. She dropped the cat and it ran away, but she didn't turn around.

"Turn, slowly." Raven said, raising her hands in self defence. When the girl turned, she had the biggest, bluest eyes Raven had ever seen. She was also sad, Raven could tell. It was as if at any moment she might burst into tears. The most striking thing about her, though, were her teeth, or rather the two Raven could see, long and pointy slipping out of the sides of her mouth, with a fresh coat of blood slowly dripping from their tips.

Suddenly, the girls expression changed, from sadness, to rage. Her eyes went from sapphire blue to blood red, her mouth opened to let out an almost reptilian hiss, and she started to stalk towards Raven.

"Stay...stay back! I don't want to hurt you!" Raven said, but what she was really worried about was herself. She expected little of that night, but being scared was not something she was prepared for. "I'm warning you...!"

The girl lunged through the air, baring her hideous fangs to the world.


	2. Chapter 2

4.

"That's far enough!" Raven waved her arm and a black aura encased the airborne girl.

"Put me down!"

"Not only a vampire, but a comedian too? I put you down and you'll do something horrible, so no sale. Now what are you doing in Jump City?"

"My...father brought me. Now let me go! Please!" There was a kind of agonized desperation in her voice. Raven could see she was shaking with what must have been fear. This was the reaction of someone who'd been enslaved before, Raven thought.

"I'll let you go when you stop killing cats...girl!"

"My name is Cerise, and I cannot stop drinking their blood, its how I live. Please, I beg, let me go!"

"Well, let's start by calming down. I'll let you go if you promise not to do anything rash, or run away."

"Please put me down!" Raven could see tears standing in the corners of her eyes, which had returned to their previous, brilliant blue.

"You have to promise me, Cerise. No running and no attacking."

"Ok, I promise. Please let me go!" Raven waved her hand and the girl floated softly down to the ground. When she landed, she was laying on the cold ground. Raven walked over and offered the girl her hand, which was accepted. The girls touch was like a feather, her skin was cold and pale.

"Now, what's going on? Where is this father of yours?"

"Is he here, don't let him find me!" She suddenly grabbed onto Raven's side, making fists of Raven's cloak. Her touch went from feather light to something resembling a vice.

"No, he's not here, calm down." Raven said, trying to pry the girl off, but having no luck at all.

"Please don't let my father find me, he keeps me in a cage, he starves me, he makes me do horrible things!" That put a knot right in the pit of Raven's stomach, and she stopped trying to force the girl away. A vampire with an abusive father, somehow, she could relate.

"It's ok, he's nowhere close. Please, just calm down." Raven let her hang off of her cloak. After a minute, the girls shaking stopped, but she still clung to Raven. It was then that raven made a decision; take the girl back to Titan's Tower, at least then she was safe from whoever this father of hers was. She calmly extricated herself from the girls grip, and looked down at her.

"I'm going to take you back to my home, if that's ok." Raven pointed to Titan's Tower, which loomed in the distance on its very own island.

"You live there?" There was wonder in her voice. Raven nodded slowly.

"Your father will never look for you there." The beginnings of a smile started on Cerise's face, then quickly disappeared. She turned her head, and her cheeks turned red.

"I need...to feed, before the sun comes up." Damn...that thing. Well, Raven couldn't just offer up another cat, it was absolutely inhuman to even think it, but she had to find something...some way to feed this kid. Admittedly, the dietary needs of a vampire was not something that had kept Raven laying awake at night very often, but it would keep her awake this one if she couldn't find anything. Ok, first she had to confirm the weird little fact that was already far too obvious.

"Ok...you are a vampire right? You need blood to survive?" Cerise's skin turned even more red, turning her cheeks into two ripe cherries.

"...Yes."

"Then we'll make a small stop on the way, I think I know a good place."

"Will I have to kill anything?" She sounded scared by the very idea.

"No, I won't allow it," Raven replied.

"...ok." Cerise said. There wasn't an ounce of joy in her voice, but there was compliance. Raven stood, and pulled out her yellow communicator and turned it on.

"What's that?" Cerise asked, in a child's inquisitive tone. Even though she was a vampire, those two words proved she was still a young girl.

"It's a communicator. I have to tell my friends that I've found you." Cerise returned to her scared, somewhat embarrassed look, and began to look at the ground.

"Robin, it's Raven." She waited, somewhat impatiently for a reply.

"This is Robin, what's up? You find out who's been killing all those cats?" Raven threw a brief glance towards the girl, who didn't look up, but she blushed a furious red.

"Yes, and you wouldn't believe me if I told you, so don't ask."

"Ummm...ok?"

"I'll be bringing her back to the Tower, you can see for yourself."

"Her?" Raven looked down and was struck with a wave of sympathy, though she couldn't pin down exactly where it came from, it hit her very hard. Still looking at the girl, she raised the communicator to her mouth.

"Robin?"

"Yes?"

"Bye." She turned off the communicator and put back inside her cloak.

"Ok, stay close to me," Raven said, and started to walk. At first the girl didn't follow, but after Raven got a few steps Cerise caught up to her and slipped her hand into Raven's. Raven looked down, at first with a look of subdued shock (At being touched by a stranger, she _hated_ that), but quickly returned to the emotionless expression she'd become so good at. She figured that the girl deserved a hand to hold.

Raven was instantly regretting the responsibility she'd just volunteered herself for. She didn't want to look after this child, wouldn't that require some sort of emotional attachment? Emotions were not something she was good at. But there was that father of hers, the reason why they were headed to Titans Tower, why Raven had to hold the girls hand to get her to move. There was him. The mention of him and what he did, for some reason reminded Raven of her own father and all that he represented; hate, rage, anger, and above all, evil. How odd that Raven would meet a girl who's father tortured her and locked her in a cage, Raven felt that her own father had been doing those same things to her for a long time now. If she could help this little vampire be free of that, then she would. That was her mission.

But before all that, they had to make a small stop, and Raven started wonder how that conversation was going to work...

5.

"Well, I'll admit it's an odd request, but I just can't refuse a Titan. You know you guys saved this whole neighbourhood once? Huge robot almost destroyed the whole area."

"Really, well I guess that helps..."

Raven had taken Cerise (who was now sitting rather impatiently in a waiting area) to the Jump City Blood Donor Clinic, and yes, she knew that the Titans had saved this very clinic from imminent destruction. She was counting on the people who worked there remembering it, too.

"So, will this be enough?" The doctor...or nurse...or whatever you called a person who worked at a Blood Donor Clinic, handed Raven a metallic briefcase filled with little bags of blood. The thought was rather horrific, but the reality was that this was food for a nine (Raven had asked Cerise her age) year old girl.

"I have no idea...guess it'll stop our cat problem, though. Thank you, doctor."

"My pleasure...just don't mention it to anyone, ok?" Raven figured that this would have to be done under the table.

"I don't think that's going to be a problem." She shook the doctor's hand (again, nearly recoiling from the touch of a stranger) and left to get Cerise.

"Did you get it?" Cerise asked. Raven hadn't told her what, exactly, she was going to be doing, but it hadn't taken Cerise long to guess what she would be asking for. Smart as a whip, that Cerise.

"Yes. Don't know how long it'll last, but when we get to the Tower, at least you'll have something to...eat. Just don't do it in front of anyone, ok?"

"...ok." Cerise looked absolutely ashamed all of a sudden. "...Sorry." She was looking at the floor again, cheeks burning red.

"Sorry? For what?" Raven bent over again. That wave of sympathy washed over her again, putting a hot cramp deep inside her.

"Sorry for being what I am...I'm sorry about the cats, about the bad stuff I did...I'm sorry." Cerise blinked and a tear ran down her cheek.

"You shouldn't be ashamed of who you are, Cerise." Raven said, with probably less emotion than was required. At least the words had meaning... "There's nothing you can do about who you are, all you can do is learn to deal with it." Raven spoke from pure experience on that one.

"But, I have to kill things to survive...I don't like it..."

"Everyone has to kill to survive. People kill cows and pigs and all sorts of things, and eat them, don't they?" Now Raven inserted just a little emotion into her voice. She realized if she didn't she would begin to sound insensitive. "Even vegetarians kill plants. They sometimes think they're better than everyone else because they don't kill animals, but they're no better or worse than you are. They kill, he kills" she pointed to a passing man in a cheap looking suit, "even I have to kill to survive. It's...natural." Cerise still had her head down.

"But I can feel the life leave the things I kill...it's such a horrible feeling..." Before Raven could think of an appropriate response, she noted how sophisticated, how grown up Cerise sounded. 'Horrible' is quite a mouthful for your average nine year old, but Cerise used it perfectly.

"Well," Raven lifted the small briefcase she held, "this should keep you going for a little while, and all the people it came from are still alive. So don't worry, ok?" Raven layed a sympathetic hand on Cerise's shoulder. She was fairly sure that if she had to look at those huge, watery, blue eyes any longer she would lose the tenuous grasp she had on her emotions.

"Now, let's get out of here. I guess you have to get inside before the sun comes up." Cerise then looked up, with a confused look, but took the proffered hand without saying anything.

Titan Tower lay east, where Raven knew she had a butt load of explaining to do.


	3. Chapter 3

6.

"Ok, so let me get this straight," Beast Boy said, with his eyes closed, shaking his head a little, "The thing that has been sucking the cats of the city dry...is a vampire?" Now his eyes were wide, and aimed straight at Raven, who was slowly nursing a cup of tea.

"In a word...yes." She took another sip.

"And you brought it to the tower!" Raven looked up from her tea, a small fire burning behind her eyes. She quickly corralled the flash of anger.

"Her name is Cerise, she isn't an 'it'. And yes I brought her here."

"Ok ok ok, let's calm down," Robin said, stepping between them, "where is it now?"

" _She_ is in my room, having something to eat. I'll go get her in a few minutes."

"Eat!" Beast Boy had his hands coiled into his hair, pulling a part down its middle.

"Don't ask...and don't worry, no one is in danger." Raven said, ever calmly.

"How can you be sure?" Cyborg asked. He'd been keeping relatively quiet, but clearly shared much of the rest of the groups concern.

"Trust me." Raven said simply. With that she stood, largely ignoring the rest of the group. She suddenly felt that they were all ignorant of some strange fact just then, certainly the way they called Cerise an 'it' proved that.

"Raven," Robin said. She stopped and looked over her shoulder. "What are you planning on doing with her?"

Raven stopped and thought about it for a moment. Really she'd been thinking about it since she'd agreed to bring Cerise to the tower. Sure, it's safer than the street's, but what's the next step?

"I'm not sure..." She continued out of the room, "...but I'll let you all know when I figure it out." She left, without looking back.

"Dude...can you believe this?" Beast Boy was still trying to get a grip on the situation. He'd seen a lot of weird things, but he'd never once thought he'd have a vampire sitting a few rooms away from him.

"Well, Raven seems to be taking it in stride," Robin said, "all we can do is trust her to see it through." Cyborg and Beast Boy seemed satisfied with that. Still a little perturbed, but satisfied.

Outside the main room, Raven walked down the hall towards her room, where she'd left Cerise to feed. Her mind was still trying to catch up to reality, which was decidedly difficult. She was finding it very hard to accept that she had a vampire sucking blood out of little bags in her room, but what she found even harder to accept, is that she was quickly starting to feel very deeply for the little girl. Perhaps looking into those huge, liquid eyes of hers had taken its tole, or maybe she could relate to Cerise's situation (Raven thought, in passing, that it was rather a combination of the two), but she was beginning to intensely desire some sort of happy ending to whatever this was turning into. Starfire rounded a corner in front of her.

"Raven, greetings!" She smiled wide enough to force her eyes half way shut.

"Ummm...hi." Raven said without stopping.

"Is it true that there is a visitor in the tower?"

"Kind of...yes." Starfire began floating behind Raven, who still hadn't stopped walking. Starfire was in her usual good mood, but could sense there was something bugging Raven.

"Is...there something the matter?" She asked, flying and landing in front of Raven.

Raven contemplated her answer. After a couple of moments she decided that, though Starfire was sometimes overly chatty, and usually concerned with things like love and friendship and all that gushy stuff, she was probably the easiest to talk to out of all the Titans.

"Our new 'friend'...I'm not sure what to do with her..."

"Well...who is she?"

Raven explained the whole situation, and realized that doing so meant she would have to explain just what a vampire was, which was harder than it sounded. After it was all over, Starfire looked like she was deep in thought, which Raven thought, for Starfire, was probably not a depth that anyone would consider impressive, but she never said anything.

"And you do not know who her father is?"

"No idea,"

"Well, she is welcome at the tower as long as needed..." Starfire wasn't sure why she had said that, since it was more or less a given, but she couldn't think of one other thing to say.

"Yes, but she has a family, a home, even if it is an evil place. If we keep her here, someone will come looking for her, and I don't think that someone is going to be very happy."

"Do you think we will have to protect her?" Starfire clasped her hands in front her, and sounded far too involved for the small amount of time she'd known about the situation. The question she'd asked was a valid one, though.

"From her father, yes, but I think we have to protect her from herself first."

"Well," Starfire took on a much more serious, dignified tone.

_There's that alien princess coming forward_ Raven thought. A sentiment that was echoed in Starfire's next words; "we must do what we must do. If what Cerise needs is protection, we must offer protection. We cannot allow harm to come to her."

Yes, that was damn right. Starfire certainly had her moments.

"Yeah...thanks." Raven looked up from the floor, and offered Starfire the smallest smirk. Even as she was doing it, Starfire was switching back to a big smile. When she spoke again, it was with a reassuring, warm voice.

"You must bring Cerise out to meet us when she is ready!" Raven had a brief flash of what that would look like, then tried to put it out of her mind. That meeting was inevitable, but what the group thought of something they so poorly understood, something that until recently they were sure only existed in movies and books. Raven made no verbal reply to Starfire, but nodded and continued to walk. Her room was close by, she only hoped Cerise had finished doing what she had to, Raven wasn't sure if she could take seeing a nine year old girl drinking blood from IV bags.

7.

Cerise had indeed finished.

The first thing Raven saw when she got into her room was the open metal briefcase with two empty little bags beside it. They were in the small rectangle of light created by the hall light washing in through the door. Cerise was only visible as a silhouette in the darkness, she had her knees drawn up to her chest and was leaning against the side of Raven's bed.

"How was the...food?" Raven tried to sound as cordial as she could, but quickly realized that she'd yet to figure out how to properly shed that monotone drone her voice normally took on. For her part, Cerise made no reply, and barely even moved.

"Are you ok Cerise?" Without realising it, Raven made her voice deeply compassionate just then, and a swell of that new feeling for Cerise washed over her. Before she spoke, Cerise sniffed, the way one does when one has been crying.

"No...I'm fine." Raven stepped past the threshold of the room, and the door slid shut, casting the room into total darkness. Normally this would have suited Raven just fine, but now she needed to be able to see, she somehow felt the need for more light. She reached out with her mind, to a box of matches she kept on a shelf behind her bed. With a thought, she struck it to life, and moved it to a few candles she had throughout the room. Thus illuminated, the room looked even eerier than when it had been totally dark, but at least Cerise was visible.

"Why don't I believe you?" Raven took a few steps towards Cerise, who still wasn't moving.

"I'm ok..." Cerise said, sniffing again. She brought the palm of one hand to her cheek and wiped it dry. New tears fell to the cheek, and Cerise moved her hand back to its previous position, wrapped tightly around her knees. Raven walked to Cerise, and got down on her knees in front of the girl.

"It's going to be ok, Cerise. I don't know what's going on here, but whatever it is I won't let your father get you. Not while you're here."

"Do you promise?" That, Raven thought, could be filed with those phrases Cerise said that proved, that beyond the fangs and severe bloodlust, she was still a young girl, largely afraid of everything.

"Absolutely." Raven said, quite sincerely. Cerise darted forward and wrapped her arms around Raven's shoulders. Before Raven could even register the discomfort she normally felt in such a situation, she felt Cerise's shaking, felt her chest heaving from the act of crying, felt the dampness of Cerise's cheek against her own. Without even thinking, Raven returned the embrace, lightly stroking the back of Cerise's head, matting down her impossibly black hair.

"It's ok, Cerise, you're safe here," she almost whispered into the young vampire's ear. It was then that Raven realised that this was the first time she'd really seen Cerise's back. She realised this, because the back of the dress Cerise wore was a field of slashes, all horizontal, but some on slight angles. Beneath that, glowing orange in the light of the candles – and to Raven's horror – her skin was similarly scarred.

"Oh...my..." Raven moved her hand to the slash marks in the fabric, moved her hands across the little bumps the scars created.

"...daddy..." Cerise whispered sadly into Raven's ear.

Raven suddenly felt a hollow sadness, mixed with a horrible, encompassing anger for whoever this bastard father of hers was.

A moment later, Raven's door slid open, sending a wash of light into the room. From the silhouette, Raven could tell it was Cyborg at the door.

"Yo, hate to interrupt, but there's something out here you gotta see." He left the threshold immediately, but Raven stayed on her knees holding Cerise for a few moments longer.

"It'll be ok, I'll be right back," Raven said, but neither of them moved for a moment.

"I don't want to be alone..." Cerise whispered, half cried. Raven didn't have to think long about this.

"Ok," she said, standing. When she was up, she took Cerise's hand in her own. "You don't ever have to be alone, not here." With one more reassuring glance, Raven started to walk out of the room. Cerise stayed very close to her, as they both made their way to the main foyer, where the rest of the group was gathered.

8.

"What's the matter?" Raven asked, back to her usual montone.

"One of those dignitary guys is on the TV," Cyborg replied, without looking away from the large screen which dominated the room. Raven didn't see the great significance in this, they'd been on and off the TV since they got to Jump City six days ago. Starfire was the first to notice Cerise, who was holding onto Raven's hand with an ever increasing vice grip.

"Oh, is this our little guest?" She asked tenderly.

"Yes. Everyone," Raven waited until they were all turned around. "This is Cerise." Raven looked down and tried to look as comforting as possible, but with the scrutinizing gaze of the whole team upon her, Cerise was turning a quite pure shade of red. Raven squeezed Cerise's little hand, which seemed to help a little.

"So why do I need to see this dignitary? What makes him so special."

"What happened to him earlier today. Apparently, he was attacked by what he called 'thugs'," Robin replied, forcing himself to pull his gaze away from Cerise.

"And now, we bring you live to a press conference held earlier this evening by Dignitary Gregori Ivanovich of Russia." The face of the reporter faded, and was replaced by the face of the dignitary in question, which loomed huge in the room.

Cerise's scream was like a cat's yelp. She ducked behind Raven and pulled Raven's cloak around her like a security blanket.

"Cerise!" Raven cried out as the force with which her cloak was pulled spun her half way around, and almost to her knees. "What's wrong?"

"It's my father! It's daddy!"


	4. Chapter 4

9.

It did not take long for Titan Tower's main foyer to quickly resemble the set of NYPD Blue. Raven sat Cerise down on the couch, and the Titans stood around her in a half circle. Of all the questions to ask, Robin started, but only after Gregori Ivan...whatever had the first sentence of his speech past his lips;

"I would like to say," he said, in an impossibly heavy Russian accent. "That I am fine. I have sustained no injuries nor have I had any of my personal effects stolen," and on he went. The Titans could not have cared less, they were all focussing on the little girl they now had as a guest.

"Ivanovich is your father?" Robin asked. Everyone could tell his mind was manufacturing questions faster than he could ever ask them, and certainly faster than Cerise would be able to ask them.

"But you're not Russian," Raven stated. Cerise hadn't spoken very often, but when she did, her accent was ninety percent American, with perhaps a small flavour of something European. It was, however, nowhere near the Russian accent that Ivanovich was speaking with.

"Neither is father..." Cerise said without looking up. Her cheeks were glowing red against her pale skin.

"He sure sounds Russian..." Cyborg said. He had turned back to the screen and was half listening to the Russian man on it, catching a few of the heavily accented words.

"He's lying...he always lies..." Raven was visibly hurt by that, Starfire caught it out of the corner of her eye, a slight slacking of the shoulders and buckling of the knees. Raven caught herself quickly, however.

"I think we must talk with this...Gregori," Starfire said authoritatively.

"I'll show him talk..." Raven replied through clenched teeth. Her eyes briefly glowed an intense red.

"Wait a minute...listen to this," Cyborg said. He scooped the remote off of the couch's arm, and turned the volume up a few notches,

"And that is why I must ask these...Teen Titans for their personal protection, starting immediately."

"He wants us to protect _him_?" Beast Boy said, clearly surprised.

"...interesting. Maybe we should have been paying more attention." Robin said, pinching his chin and quickly disappearing back into thought.

"It doesn't matter, he wants us there, I say we pay him a visit, right now."

"No...please don't leave me!" Cerise suddenly shot off the couch and grabbed two fist fulls of Raven's cloak. Raven caught herself from falling, and after a moment of confusion, her mind caught up to what was going on, and she wrapped her arms lightly around the girls shoulders, she felt those horrible scars under the tips of her fingers. Raven looked up at the group with a look that closely resembled sympathy.

"Raven, you stay here with Cerise, we'll go." Raven made to protest, but before she could, Cerise tightened her grip on her cloak, and buried her face deeper. Suddenly, leaving the tower seemed like far less of a priority.

"Ok..." Raven separated herself from Cerise and dropped down to her haunches. She clutched Cerise by the shoulder's, hard enough to be reassuring. "It's ok, I'll stay here." Cerise was near to crying, but looking into Raven's intense indigo eyes seemed to calm her. She nodded nervously. Raven stood and placed one hand between Cerise's should blades.

"Be careful, guys," Raven said, knowing that this Gregori, or whatever his name really was, was capable of just about anything. Robin nodded, which apparently counted as a resounding _affirmative_ for the entire group.

"Titans, we're out of here."

10.

The VIP's from all those European countries were holed up in the finest hotel in town. Outside it was a rather elaborate fountain which spewed jets high into the air, and it was currently circled by flags representing all those same European countries. Really, it was the only place a visiting Very Important Person was likely to be found in Jump City, and currently it was where a certain group of super powered teenagers (minus one) could also be found, awaiting an audience with a man who was, apparently, not Russian.

"I can't believe this guy has kept us waiting for an hour...the suns nearly up..." Cyborg said, looking out the window and capping his words off with a wide mouthed yawn.

"He must be busy," Robin stated without really moving.

"Busy? In the middle of the night?" Beast Boy half yelled. No one contested his point. It was late...impossibly late, all of them were staggered with the amount that had gone on that day. To think, this whole business with Cerise had begun not two hours ago. Robin had been buried in his own head since Raven had arrived and dumped the whole horrible truth, simply trying to digest what was going on. He'd already made up his mind on a few things, particularly about these politicians that had invaded the city. With Cerise showing up when she did, there were a few things that were quite plainly obvious, things which he intended to confirm as soon as this supposed Russian Delegate made himself known. As it happened, he made himself known just about then.

There was a ding from across the immense and polished lobby of the hotel, and an elevator door opened. Two men with black suits, crew cuts and ear pieces stepped out and made their way briskly over to where the Titans had been sitting for the better part of sixty minutes.

"Mr. Ivanovich will see you now." One said, in a heavy Russian accent. They all stood without a word, trying not to look as frustrated, tired and upset as they clearly were on the inside. They all made their way to the same elevator with the mirror like doors and boarded, bound for some place skyward.

The trip up was a long one, taking them to the uppermost levels of the hotel, Beast Boy thought briefly of the view from such heights. He knew that, after all, it was the reason the higher hotel rooms cost so much more. He didn't see the point, since it would only be a view of the city (for whatever reason, they'd built the hotel facing away from the open sea, and any chance of seeing one those breathtaking, nature loving panoramic views was essentially nil). A full minute or so later, the elevator slowed, dinged, and released them.

"This way," one of the big Russians said.

"Must have some great conversations over there in Russia..." Beast Boy said under his breath.

They were led to a pair of large polished wood doors, with a metallic plate on the front that read 'Executive Suite'. Before the big Russian guys even opened the doors, the group knew it was going to be a massive room. You didn't put doors like that on the closet, after all. The two Russian bears, who had yet to give either of their names, each opened one of the double doors and stepped inside.

"Wait here," one of them muttered.

"Can you feel the love?" Beast Boy asked rhetorically. Robin had barely taken his eyes off the floor the entire trip up, an had narrowed his many thoughts down to one, the pressing issue of the hour (at least to him);

_Sun up in fifteen minutes, let's keep him talking for twenty._

They stood there at the threshold of the room for another few moments before the man of the hour, Gregori Ivanovich stepped out of the shadows of the room, and into the light. He was a dark man, that had to be the best way to describe him. Jet black hair which fell in thick locks around his shoulders, a gaunt, hollowed face, tall and kind of frail in appearance, and dressed in a suit that would look more at home on a funeral director.

"Welcome," he said, Russian accent in tow.

"Greetings!" Starfire said over enthusiastically, as was her way.

"I trust you know the reason I have summoned you to my chambers, yes?" He angled his head down and looked at the Titans through the tops of his eyes.

"You need protection, apparently," Robin said, raising his gaze from the floor and quickly scanning the two behemoth guard types that had escorted them from the lobby.

"Ahh, yes, Mikail and Peter are good, but I want someone with, how you say? Intimate knowledge of the city." That made sense, at least in some small way. In a different time, Robin would have suspected nothing, in a different time.

"You want us to start now, or just when you go out on errands?" Cyborg said. Most in attendance could hear the sleep in his voice. It was long past all their bedtimes, with the possible exception of Gregori Ivanovich, if Robin's suspicions played out true.

"I will require your presence at my side for all of tomorrow. The delegates are to tour the city's famous sites, and I would like very much if you would keep a close eye on the whole affair." Suddenly, Gregori looked very distracted about something.

"Tell me, where is the other one?" The Titans looked at each other, deciding how to answer that. Really, they had no idea what he was on about.

"The other what?" Beast Boy offered.

"The other Titan, I saw her on the news. She wore...purple cloak?"

"Raven?" Robin asked.

"Yes, that is right, where is this 'Raven'? I would very much like to meet her."

"She's back at the tower, taking care of some...thing." Robin was going to say _someone_, learning from the past mistakes he'd made in calling Cerise an _it_, but felt that might be giving too much away.

"We asked for all Titans!" Said one of the guards, suddenly snapping to life.

"Peter, please." Ivanovich raised a tapered hand to quiet the man. "We will have her soon enough." That sounded way too wrong to ignore.

"What do you mean, 'have'?" Robin said accusingly. Ivanovich looked shaken, but only for a moment.

"Oh, ah yes...English...what I mean is, we will _see_ her soon. I apologize for any confusion." The Titans looked at each other in disbelief. They all knew that they were thinking the same thing, which was simply that they absolutely did not believe a single word the Russian had just said.

"Yeah..." Cyborg said, slowly, making a small step towards the door. The others followed, inching slowly towards freedom.

"I think we must go to the room of the bed..." Starfire said, adding a rather exaggerated yawn. Before they could get to the double doors, the two large Russians slammed them shut. Ivanovich was making a clucking sound with his tongue. _Tisk tisk tisk_.

"I was really hoping that this could wait until tomorrow. Oh well, my fault I suppose. Gentlemen." When Ivanovich spoke this time, it was not with a Russian accent, but a more mixed, European accent, the type you find in movies set in a country other than America, non-descript and all over the place. On his command (a wave into the darkness of his room) twenty more large men in black suits swarmed in and surrounded the Titans.

"Take them to the basement, and send a team to their little tower, the that is there is the one we want."

"What are you doing!" Beast Boy yelled as the guards advanced.

"But before you go," Ivanovich said, ignoring Beast Boy's question, "can you tell me where my daughter is?" As the guards closed in, he smiled, baring his own set of razor sharp teeth.


	5. Chapter 5

11.

Raven stood for a long time with Cerise in her arms, sensing that the girl drew some kind of comfort from her. After a time, she directed Cerise to the couch and sat her down, trying desperately to think of something to say. She knew that Cerise needed to be comforted, she'd escaped from a father who mistreated her in way's Raven probably didn't even know the whole scope of, but there was a point where everyone became to 'clingy' for Raven, and Cerise was quickly reaching it.

This was all with about forty five minutes until sun up, a fact which Raven kept right at the front of her mind.

"Cerise," Raven said, after a time, "why did your father do this to you?" She didn't know what kind of answer to expect, or if Cerise even had an answer, but it needed to be asked eventually, it might be important.

"Because he likes it..." she said, almost immediately. She had her fingers locked together and hung loosely between her knees, and she looked like she was trying to set the floor on fire with her gaze alone. As far as the answer went, Raven was taken aback by it for more than a few moments. She expected something a little more...substantial, but then again, she was talking to vampire, and so decided to put all expectation aside. Cerise apparently wasn't finished talking, either. After a lengthy pause, she had more to say on the subject.

"The vampire's...they feed on blood, but suffering...it's like snack food for them. They don't need it, but they love the way it tastes..."

"And they...feed from you?"

"Yes, in both ways. Each night they would drink my blood..." She swept her hair aside and revealed the side of her neck. It had an ugly scar on it, a wound that looked like it had been dealt by a wild animal, something that suggested the tender flesh there had been violently torn open over, and over and over... Raven tried not to react, but her eyes widened, and she felt a tear swell. "After that..." Cerise blinked and two tears rolled down her cheek and off into her lap, but her tone remained that of restrained sorrow, she sounded like she was too tired to cry, or just tired of crying. "...after that they would do other things...sometimes they would whip me, sometimes they would stick needles in my arm, full of something that burned...the more I screamed...the more I tried to make them stop..." She stopped talking, her condition no longer allowed her the means to speak. Her cheeks were wet and her lower lip trembled. Raven was trying to figure something to say to make everything alright, something to make her stop crying, maybe even smile. She looked like the type of girl who had a winning smile, but as of yet, Raven had never seen it. Raven got up and started to head towards Cerise, again feeling that perhaps physical contact might calm her down, but suddenly Cerise's head shot up. She didn't see or hear anything, because there was nothing to satisfy either of those senses, but she _felt_ something.

"They're here," she said, her voice now instantly aware, and not cracking at all from the tears. Raven looked around but saw no one.

"Who's here?"

"My father's men," Cerise replied. As she did, the proximity alarms went off, and the room was plunged into the red light of the alert. The huge screen switched on, and showed the outside of the main doors of the tower. Outside were gathered about ten rather large men wearing black suits. They weren't trying to break in or prepare an ambush or anything like that, but instead, they seemed to be waiting patiently. One of them tried knocking on the door, which of course went unheard since Raven and Cerise were several floors above it.

"It looks like they want to talk..." Raven said

"Don't go! Don't trust them!" Raven looked down at the girl, who now wore a much more determined look. Her eyes glowed in the semi darkened room.

"I'm not afraid of them, Cerise," Raven said confidently, "and besides, we can't leave them out there. Don't worry," she bent down and placed a reassuring hand on Cerise's shoulder. "I won't let them take you, trust me." Cerise did. Cerise knew that as long as Raven was breathing, she would protect her, she could feel it coming from her, that unerring care and determination. It gave Cerise strength.

"Let's go see what they want." Raven smiled slyly.

They walked, hand in hand, down to the main doors of the tower, where the knocking on the door boomed out and echoed all around them.

"We have come for the girl," came a muffled yell.

Raven pressed the button to unlock the doors, and they swung open with mechanical precision. The man who was knocking nearly fell into the tower, but regained his composure before his collapse.

He pointed at the two girls, and gave a red eyed stare to Cerise (who had taken up a defensive position behind Raven. She felt Cerise's grip on her cloak tighten when the man pointed at her). Raven looked stolidly at the large man, not reacting at all. She held out her arms to guard Cerise from any possible attack.

She heard Cerise coo behind her, which filled Raven with hard resolve, as well as a nearly uncontrollable rage.

"I'm going to make this simple for all of us," Raven said, looking determinedly at the group of men. "Cerise," she turned to face the girl, "do you want to go with these men?" Cerise was cowering behind Raven, and nervously shook her head.

"Then she stays!" Raven waved her hand in the air and the lead man was surrounded by a black aura. He flew backward and bowled the others over. Raven shut the doors and grabbed Cerise's hand.

"Come on!" She said, and pulled her deeper into the tower.

As she dragged Cerise by the arm, Cerise planted her feet and stopped them both.

"What are you doing? We have to get to a safer location!"

"It's not me they're after..." Cerise said shakily.

"What do you mean? There's no one else here, they have to be after you!"

Raven was near yelling, and quickly checked herself. Whatever the situation, the poor girl did not need to be yelled at.

"You're here," Cerise said gravely.

"Me?" The door behind them crumpled to the ground, and the men from outside started to stream in.

"Get them!" One of them shouted. Raven stood and faced them, but knew before she did that it would soon be a hopeless endeavour. She was outnumbered twenty to one, and would have to protect Cerise at the same time.

"Cerise...run..."

"I can help," Cerise replied, holding her ground.

"Run!" Raven yelled, but saw that the men were already surrounding them.

"Now! Get them!" They all started to advance.

"You won't take her,"

Raven wheeled round, for it was Cerise who had spoken those words. A change had come over her, her eyes were glowing an intense red, her lips curled into a snarl that showed off her long, sharp teeth. Before Raven could say anything more Cerise lunged at the closest of the intruders. She brought her fist down into the mans face and a sharp snap told everyone that Cerise had just broken something in that mans head. Raven shook herself out of the surprise she felt, and turned to face what men she could.

"Get out of my house," she hissed. She raised her hands and five of them went flying backwards, as if hit by a wall of air.

Raven turned and saw all that Cerise had done in those short seconds. Two of the attackers lay on the ground bleeding. One was clearly unconscious, half his face was turning purple and black, starting at the small indentation Cerise's fist had made in his cheek. The other, Raven thought, had to be dead. His throat was thrashed open, and he wasn't moving. Cerise was already at work on her third victim, and Raven could see that, like her teeth, her finger nails had grown into sharp points, which she was using to pummel a man to the floor.

"Send back up! Now!" One yelled into a radio he was carrying. Raven wasted no time in dispatching him, raising him to the roof at a staggering speed, and knocking him out. She let him fall under gravity to the ground, and he landed in a lifeless pile. His message was sent, however, and not ten seconds later, dozens more men (Who were, apparently, lying in wait outside in case the two girls managed to make it out of the house) started pouring in, all of them wearing identical black suits. Raven looked at them with a growing dread. There was no way she could take them all, not even with Cerise's help.

"Take me!" She yelled at the lead runner of this new group, "take me and leave her alone."

"Sorry," he said in an accent Raven couldn't quite place, "our orders are to take both of you!"

Raven could see clearly to the outside through the two toppled doors that once stood in front of her, and smiled at what she saw. She grabbed Cerise and pulled her cloak around them both.

"Sorry, guys, but its sun up, I think you know what happens now." She smiled maniacally. The sun crept slowly over the horizon, and golden light slowly ran over the ground, and in through the broken front doors. It hit the group of vampire's, and to Raven's surprise - and horror - nothing happened. The one in front of her leered down, bearing his fangs.

"I know what happens, girl, but I think you watch too much television."

The last thing Raven saw was his fist, rushing at her.

As she fell, her last thoughts were of Cerise, and how she had failed her.


	6. Chapter 6

12.

"Come on Raven, wake up!" The sound registered before anything else, but it was too far away to tell who was actually talking. There was a siren blaring, and it would be another few moments before Raven realized that it was sounding off from inside her head, not outside.

"Raven, please get up..." It was Beast Boy she thought, speaking to her through the darkness and the screaming noise.

"Beast Boy, give her time. It looks like she's taken a good knock."

"I know...her eye..." It was then that she attempted to lift the lids of her eyes, and found that one of them was not going to listen. Her good eye creaked open painfully, but it was nothing but a blur she saw, like looking through an aquarium. There was a green blob floating in front of her, and it was speaking. Though she still couldn't see, she knew it was Beast Boy.

"Uhh..." She tried to sit up but her head spun furiously and she fell back.

"Careful," the green blob said, and she felt the weight of a hand on her shoulder. "You might have a concussion." She tried to speak, but the words got lost somewhere between her brain and her mouth.

"I think she's down for the day guys...someone roughed her up pretty good." That was Cyborg, she thought. And she thought that if he was referring to her, he was probably right.

"What's that on her wrist?" Someone (She couldn't place who this time) asked.

"No idea. Certainly doesn't match her usual fashion sense though," Robin said. She tried to open her eyes again, and again one was largely unresponsive. When all she could see was the same underwater blob, she closed her eyes again. She felt a hand lay a comforting stroke along the top of her head, but was too far away to register it.

The group, meanwhile, was trying to figure a way out of the cell they'd been so unceremoniously thrown into over two hours before. They'd put up a good fight, but against such odds they didn't last long. They came through it better than Raven had, so it seemed, and they hadn't even seen that girl Cerise since they'd thrown an unconscious Raven into the cell about a half hour ago.

"Starfire, any luck with the bars?"

"No...they are unresponsive to my powers. Too strong to melt through or bend."

"They were expecting this...I'd bet anything that bracelet Raven is wearing is designed to block her powers." It was a large step Robin had just taken, but the group knew better than to question him, when it came to deducing things from very little, Robin was bested only by one man (and he was nowhere close to that cell at the time).

They looked at the bracelet for a moment. It was metal and had a lock on it, but the most striking feature about it was a strange, engraved symbol which almost glowed. One look, and yes, Robin was probably right. Why else would those vampires put it on her?

"Beast Boy, how is she?" Beast Boy looked down at her, he had her head supported in his lap, and was doing his best to comfort her.

"Not good..." She was still trying to get her eyes to open her eyes, but couldn't do much more than flutter the good one open for a moment or two.

"I don't know how much damage was done, but I think it's bad. Whoever hit her wasn't human."

"No, we know that," Robin said.

"Here, hang on a sec," Cyborg said. He started looking at a screen on his forearm and swept his arm over Raven's head in a slow arc.

"She's got a bad concussion, and the orbital bone of her right eye is fractured. She...might have brain damage, but I can't tell for sure." Cyborg spoke very solemnly, and continued to look at the screen on his arm for a few moments longer before pressing a button and sitting up against the wall. "She's in bad shape guys, she needs an emergency room, and soon." Beast Boy ran his fingers through her violet hair.

"Come on Raven, you gotta wake up..." Her only response was a small moan.

"We gotta get out of here..." Robin said. His attention had been drawn to the lock on the door. They'd taken away all his gadgets when they threw him in, but he'd been taught to pick locks with just about anything. For example, it was Houdini who discovered that most handcuffs could be opened by applying pressure to certain areas above or around the locking device. It was Batman who extrapolated that fact into a working theory that stated that most locks, of any make or model, will pop open if you hit them hard enough in the right spot. Robin balled his fist and took a swing at the spot that he – having been trained for endless hours on such things – thought might be that one trick spot on this lock that would break it open. What he got was a massive electrical shock, which sent him flying in the other direction. The group all looked at him with stunned fascination as he stood and rubbed the back of his head.

"They got bars srtong enough to keep Starfire in, they beat Raven down and gave her some funky bracelet that hexes her powers, and you thought punching the door would get us out?" Cyborg said, and a similar sentiment was written on both Starfire and Beast boys faces.

"...It was worth a shot..." Robin said with a shrug .

A few moments later two of the men in the black suits appeared out of the darkness on the other side of the bars.

"Grab the witch, Master wishes to speak with her," one of them said to the other. All of them knew they were speaking about Raven, and they all turned to look at her. She'd still barely moved, her black eye looked more swollen every second, and she was in no condition to be moved. Beast Boy moved both his hands to her shoulders, in a vein attempt to protect her.

"She needs a doctor! Can't you see that?" He yelled at them as they sorted through a bunch of things on a ring. They must have been keys, but they looked more like the small remote's people used to get into their cars. The two men didn't say anything to Beast Boy's protests. As soon as they got into the cell, Robin fired out with a punch that bounced off the first ones chest like a wadded up ball of paper.

"Titan's g-"

One of them seized him by the throat before he could get the words out.

"If any of you so much as move, I will snap his neck like a twig." They all backed down.

"Now, Green one, let her go, or your friend will leave this cell in a box." It was with a certain amount of will power that Beast Boy pulled himself away from Raven. His last thoughts were of her physical condition.

_Brain damage...she might never wake up..._

The one who held Robin raised him off the ground and through him like a rag doll against the back wall of the cell.

"Sleep tight, Titans." They locked the door and each took one of Raven's arms, letting her hang limply between them as they dragged her away. Starfire bent over and tended to Robin as he coughed and spluttered. Beast Boy made a last ditch lunge at the bars, but was shocked away by the same electrical charge that floored Robin minutes before.

"Woah, steady there, BB," Cyborg said, walking over and helping him up. He didn't say anything, just looked into the shadows as the two mens silhouettes slowly disappeared.

13.

"Wake up, my dear," was the next voice Raven heard. She'd vaguely registered the exchange between the two vampires and the rest of the Titans, and even less vaguely felt them dragging her to wherever she now was. She felt able to open her eyes, at least with more confidence than her last attempt. Slowly she did, and found that she was in a very dimly lit room, and the voice that had just spoken to her belonged to a tall, lanky man whom she immediately recognized as the dignitary that had called the Titans away the previous night. Her head was still swimming, and any attempt at speech was getting absolutely nowhere.

Across from her there was a large mirror, which stood at least eight feet high, and five across. In it she could see her arms were suspended over her head in large, clunky looking manacles, and suspended her just high enough that if she stood her toes would barely brush the ground. Slowly, she began to feel all the sensations such a position would garner; the pulling of her shoulders, the lack of ground beneath her feet, but always there was the soup in her head that made the world a much more confusing place.

"My men have treated you badly...hmmm, I suppose it could not be helped. Still..." He leaned in and kissed her cheek, she tried to flinch away from it but the way she was held in place, and her general state of health prevented such an action. His touch sent off a flare of pain, he'd kissed her at just the spot where the fist had contacted her cheek, she thought. A second or so after he did it, though, she felt her head begin to clear, and when she looked again at her reflection in the mirror (she was a little surprised to discover that he too, had a reflection, and decided then to forget everything she thought she knew about vampires) the bruise which dominated the right side of her face was receding, and soon disappeared all together. His touch has healed her, but why he had bothered she had no idea. Didn't matter, now she had her chance.

"Azerath Metrion Zinthos!" She watched as a spectacular lot of nothing happened. That, she thought, was a little weird.

"Azerath metrion zinthos? Hmmm, interesting." The man...Ivanovich? Said. "I suppose you don't even know what that means, do you?"

"It's a prayer, my mother taught it to me." She said with a voice full of anger and determination.

"Oh yes, the whore," he said casually. The words stung Raven. Before she could say anything against them (and yes, she very much wanted to) Ivanovich went on talking.

"Yes, a prayer, but what do the _words _mean. What is it you are saying, child?" At that Raven said nothing, as far as she knew they were words that had no English equivalent.

"Yes, I thought so. We have much to discuss, I see. First, though, I think I must introduce myself." He walked close to her, and stood straight up.

"My name is Sebastian St. Fleure, though I suppose you think my name Ivanovich. Wasn't my act a good one?"

"The accent could have used some work..." Raven said with restraint.

"Hmmmm...perhaps," Sebastian said, smiling. He turned away from her and walked into the short distance, where for the first time she noticed an easel set up next to a window. He picked up a brush and started to paint as he spoke.

"I suppose you are wondering why you are here, Ms. Raven?" He said, but before she had a chance to answer, he continued. "You are the culmination of quite a long search, my dear. We vampires have been pouring over all matter of text trying to find you."

"What's so important about me!" Raven uttered, struggling against her restraints. He still never looked from his painting once.

"You are the one, aren't you? The vampire with all of the advantages and none of the set backs. Access to more power than I'm sure even you know the true scope of, and yet you need not skulk the back streets like a dog to find a rat to feed on. A vampire without bloodlust. You really have no idea how important that is."

"I'm no vampire!"

"No, I suppose not, not in the strictest sense, anyway." He put his brush down and turned to face her. "But then again, you really don't know what a vampire is, do you?" She made no reply. "A vampire is nothing more than a human being with just a touch of demon in them. It is the blood, you see..." He was pacing the room as he spoke. "Our blood is, for lack of a better word, infected. Our very hearts are the hearts of demons, and the blood that pumps through them is utter poison. That's why we have to drink so much of the stuff. Replenish the supply." He had, by then made his way back to his easel, and picked up his brush again.

"But you don't have that little imperfection. You," he looked over his shoulder, and smiled. "With you it's rather the opposite." He blotted his brush into a new colour nad started to apply it to the page. Raven realised then, with what must have been revulsion, that he was painting her, there as she was, chained up. "With you, your entire body is that of a demon, at least in a way. If you were to ever let him out for some air...shame really. The only thing about you that is truly human is your heart. I suppose you could say it's your mother's greatest gift. It keeps you grounded."

"What's your point!"

"Ahh, a great question! Why have I bothered to come up with such an elaborate plan to sneak my entire coven of vampires into your little city, and imprison you and your little friends?" Raven thought about what he'd just said, then realised the gravity of it. There was no foreign war, all the dignitaries were just vampires masquerading. She was in a hotel that was just full of vampires, and the idea didn't sit well with her at all.

"You," Sebastian continued, "are our way out of these imperfect bodies. The answer to our little imperfection. Along with that harpy of a daughter of mine, you will bring about the vampire apocalypse. The death of the entire human race." The mention of Cerise snapped all of Raven's thoughts to her (The death of all humans was a revelation so huge that it must have gone completely over her head).

"What have you done to her?"

"Cerise? Oh, she will be out later, put on a little show for me and mine like usual. Figure we'd get at least one more night out of her before we killed her." Raven pulled as hard as she could against the shackles that held her, but they wouldn't give, and Sebastian had somehow restrained her from using her powers.

"Hmmm, perhaps you would do well to read up on this little party we are about to have. I, after all, have a painting to finish, and it is so difficult to explain...here." He waved his hand in the air and a book flew over to him (surrounded by a familiar black glow).

"I can permit you the small use of your powers to keep this aloft and turn its pages. You seem to me to be the type who enjoys reading dusty old tomes like this, so enjoy yourself. Just raise your hand when your finished." He looked up at her shackled hands, stretched towards the ceiling.

"Oh, right...forgive me." He started to laugh, a high, shrill laugh which made Raven's hair stand up. She was more mad than she could remember being for the longest time. Here she was confronted with the very man that had so scared Cerise, and she could do nothing. Every word he said infuriated her, but she was powerless to stop him. Well, mostly powerless, he was right when he said she'd be able to levitate the book, which she did. If he was allowed to gain knowledge, she would, it would be required if she planned on stopping whatever was to come.

With the pain in her shoulders nearing apocalyptic levels, she started to read.


End file.
